And 5,000 kids later, I can now confirm that my hunch was sound. The university was on spring break, freeing up the sidewalks and hallways for busloads of younger students coming in from around the state. Each author to spoke eight groups—four hourlong sessions on Monday and four more on Tuesday. Some (including me) were in classrooms and the biggest names got auditoriums. The orchestration of this event was grand-scale and, from where I stood, smooth. No kids got lost, though some authors (including me) did. (Hey, it was an unfamiliar campus.)I did not take a photo of my little plot on the book tables until the the third and final day:

Any such photo has no frame of reference (unless you know how many books total were there to begin with, which I don't), but we (meaning me and the other authors I talked with) sure felt like a lot of books sold. I think the title I signed the most copies of was Vanished: True Stories of the Missing.

Inside a glass cabinet, each author's work was represented by a little shoebox-less diorama:

But even cooler were the clever cubic centerpieces used to indicate where each of the 43-or-so authors in attendance were to sit at the kickoff luncheon.

At the end of the luncheon, where Cheryl Klein of Arthur A. Levine gave a heartfelt keynote (in part about her grandfather, who founded this festival), each cube was raffled off to a person sitting at its table. I did not win my own.

* Fairy Spell (nonfiction picture book about the two girls in WWI England took photos of what they claimed were real fairies); illustrated by Eliza Wheeler; Clarion* Thirty Minutes Over Oregon (nonfiction picture book about the unprecedented accomplishment—and redemption—of a Japanese WWII pilot), illustrated by Melissa Iwai; Clarion

“[N]o library in the world could object to the book’s style and panache. [T]his is one biography that’s going to lure the kids like nothing else. More fun than any children’s biography has any right to be.”—A Fuse #8 Production (School Library Journal blog; four out of five stars)

“Fascinating.”—Horn Book

“Sure to become a classic example of the genre.”—Families Online

“Wonderful…young readers…will find this…title appealing and thereby ensure that future generations recall the amazing story behind Superman’s creation as well. Wait, did I say ‘recall’? Strike that—make it ‘will be inspired by’ instead. This book is that good.”—Firefox News

“[T]ouching... The illustrated section...is upbeat, entertaining, and informative...the [well-crafted] afterword shows the shadow side of the great American dream. ...Nobleman is equally adept at both stories.”—Boston Globe

“Surprisingly poignant.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Haunting.”—Geek Monthly

“Excellent.”—GeekDad (a WIRED blog)

“A-minus.”—A.V. Club (the entertainment review arm of The Onion)

“The best and most accurate depiction of their lives in print.”—Brad Ricca, documentary filmmaker, Last Son, and later author of Super Boys

“Engrossing...wonderful.”—Scripps Howard News Service

“I was completely mesmerized by this book from the first instant I opened it. I loved every page, and every word. Boys of Steel transported me; it made me feel young; it moved me to tears. Honest to God, it did! It caused my black heart to melt. The book is absolutely fantastic, the book is tremendous, the book is a huge achievement.”—Robby Reed, DIAL B for BLOG